Explore

Biodiversity

GWINNETT SCHOOLS

Choose an investigation for your grade level

Click here and CHOOSE ONE of the ways to gain Expertise

Become a Wildlife Expert

Find out about your local Bee and Pollinator population through the Wild Bee ID App, and identify the bees in your garden or school yard. Alternatively, you can watch this YouTube Video, and receive tips from a real wildlife biologist!

Consult an Expert

Think of the most important questions you have about your stream that you have not been able to answer. Who would be the best expert to consult? Consider contacting Skype a Scientist.

EXPERTISE

STEP 1: Become an expert on native organisms that seem scarce or missing from your area; or an environmental problem affecting biodiversity of your area; or consult an expert to get answers to your questions. CHOOSE ONE WAY to increase your knowledge of a certain aspect of biodiversity.

Click here and CHOOSE ONE of the ways to gain Expertise

Become a Wildlife Expert

Consult an Expert

Think of the most important questions you have about your stream that you have not been able to answer. Who would be the best expert to consult? Consider contacting Skype a Scientist.

EMPATHY

STEP 2: Imagine seeing the world through the eyes of a person or organism directly affected by your areas lack of biodiversity, or diversity problem(s). CHOOSE ONE WAY to learn more about how biodiversity affects organisms that live in the surrounding area, or people who live in the area.

Click here and CHOOSE ONE of the ways to gain Empathy

Empathize with a native critter

There are organisms all around us, even if you can;t always see them! For this activity, choose an organism native to your area, that could be found in your garden or school yard. Below are some examples.

Empathize with your local bees

Watch this video of bees making a nest, and this video revealing the secret life of this very important pollinator. Without bees, biodiversity is impossible.

Empathize with a Monarch butterfly

Monarch butterflies migrate thousands of miles every year from Mexico to the US and Canada. Find out more about their incredible journey, and what it takes to build a pollinator garden for them. Here is also some information on what it takes to protect this beautiful butterfly!

Empathize with an endangered species

Project Hero allows you to take a detailed look into the life of a local endangered species. The Freshwater Quest then encourages you to make a difference by adding to the habitat of that endangered species. Find out more about an endangered species in your county using this interactive map. In Georgia, you can search for endangered species by county or by area using this map. If you do find and identify and endangered species, be sure to report it on https://www.inaturalist.org/.

ENGINEER

STEP 3: To understand more about biodiversity, first decide which of the following issues is most relevant to the area you tested. CHOOSE ONE WAY to investigate biodiversity by making a model to provide observable information, or building a structure that afects the biodiversity of your area.

Click here and CHOOSE ONE engineering design challenge

Engineering Practices

Refer to this Engineering Design Challenge flow chart (included in your Portfolio) to learn more about the iterative process of prototyping, testing, and revising designs until an effective product is created. Also check out this rubric from Iridescent Learning for assessment of student engineering projects.

Design and build a bee hotel

Research the living requirements for native bees in your area. Then, once you have a good idea of how the bees live, design and build a bee hotel to fit those living requirements. Here are some resources to get you started!

Download the activity sheet: bee habitat engineering design challenge

Bee Hotel Tips
How NOT to make bee hotel
Build a Bee Hotel
Bee Hotel Alternatives

Design and plant a pollinator garden

Attract pollinators from your local area to your garden by adding host and nectar plants for a variety of pollinators. Find out more about attracting pollinators to your garden here, and use this planner to get started!

Design and build a ladybug net catcher

Investigate the biodiversity of your area by designing a ladybug catcher: ladybug engineering design challenge to safely catch ladybugs. See how many different species of ladybug you can find! Find out more about ladybugs at the Lost Ladybug Project.

EXAMINE

STEP 4: Examine a case study

Click here to open the case study

Jigsaw Activity

Divide into evenly numbered groups of around 6 - 8 members. Each member of the group is assigned a section with the corresponding articles. Members of different groups who have been assigned the same section then read and discuss the article together. Finally, each person reports back to their original group about the article they read, and what they learned from it.

Topic	Articles
Factors affecting Biodiversity: How to Stop Speeding Up Extinctions – video	What Does Biodiversity Matter? UN Report: 1 Million Species at Risk of Extinction Plant Blindness and Why Ignoring Plants Matters
Team Habitat	Loss of Overwintering Habitat for Monarch Butterflies Loss of Breeding Habitat for Monarch Butterflies
Team Introduced Species	Songbirds decline because of Non-native Backyard Plants Chytrid fungus Devastating Amphibians
Team Population	How Global Population Growth affects the Nitrogen Cycle
Team Pollution	Effect of Pollution on Biodiversity
Team Over-Harvesting	Overfishing: the Other Ocean Threat Humans are Overharvesting Megafauna
Team Climate	Climate change Shifting the Range of Carolina Wrens

EXPERIMENT

STEP 5: Implement the scientific method to carry out an experiment

Click here to open information on the experiment

Deliverable: Explore an Aspect of local water quality

I gained Expertise in one aspect of water quality.
I gained Empathy for an organism or people affected by water quality.
I designed and prototyped an Engineering solution to a water quality problem.
I completed the case study to further examine water quality.
I completed an experiment to answer a question about biodiversity.

To REASON

To ACT

Biodiversity

Explore

Portfolio

Observe

Gather

Reason

EXPLORE

Act

Teach

GWINNETT SCHOOLS

Become a Wildlife Expert

Consult an Expert

EXPERTISE

Become a Wildlife Expert

Consult an Expert

EMPATHY

Empathize with a native critter

ENGINEER

Engineering Practices

EXAMINE

EXPERIMENT

Deliverable: Explore an Aspect of local water quality